Ever After| k.th ✔

TWENTY-FIVE| Drowning

"TAEHYUNG!" You shouted in a panicked cough the moment the blackness cleared and you were able to come to. You had continued to allow your mind to repeat his name so that he would be your first priority when the chapter switched. The horrific sight of him crumpling to the ground continued to haunt your consciousness even in nothingness as you had begged the switch to act quickly.

Now you found yourself staring at the bright sun as you sat up abruptly and sand rained from your form. Your throat felt dry and your cheeks sported dried streams of tears that had faced the blaring heat. You didn't give yourself time to look around at the beach you were now located at, and instead only focused your blurry vision on the form of the guy a little ways away from you who was collapsed in the sand and unmoving.

As you scrambled towards him as fast as your body allowed, you kicked up sand and tried to assure yourself that everything would be OK over the sounds of waves crashing against the beach.

He's fine. Injuries don't carry over chapters...

Your knees hit the sand as you slid down and hovered over his form to see that he most certainly wasn't fine. Horror flooded your heart as he slightly stirred then coughed and brought a trembling hand to his abdomen.

"Ow," He spoke simply in a horse voice; closing his eyes and clenching his teeth as he allowed his head to drop to the sand once more. Although the arrow that had belonged to the past chapter had disappeared, the wound it had inflicted was still very much present. Blood pooled out and stained his simple brown shirt as he gasped at the pain.

You were frozen as your heart leaped in horror. Your hand wavered over the injury and started to tremble as the fear and disbelief caused more tears to spring to your eyes.

"No no no," you murmured, a soft gasp escaping your lips as your head spun. "I don't understand! Injuries don't carry over chapters!"

"Yeah they do," Taehyung attempted to correct you, panting in the process as pain continued to overtake his form. You lightly licked your lower lip and gently allowed your fingers to brush through his hair that was damp with sweat.

"Don't talk," You instructed firmly while trying to stay calm, looking around abruptly for anything or anyone that could help. Like usual, the setting you were now in didn't help the situation at all. All you could see was the vast ocean and green jungle. As you looked around, Taehyung inhaled deeply in order to better control his breathing and allowed his eyes to open once more.

"You look pretty," he murmured, eyes trailing your panicked form hovered over him that now sported a blue dress with a matching ribbon present in your hair. Hot flustered tears slid down your face as you grit your teeth and punched the sand next to you.

"Damn it, Taehyung! I said don't talk!" You scolded; trying to control your panic as the tears dripped off your chin to splatter in the sand. "You need medical attention. Now."

You had been studying nursing. Although you hadn't completed your schooling, you knew the basics and also knew you had to calm down and treat Taehyung so he would live. Shaking all emotions away and focusing only on surviving, you quickly wiped your trembling hands on your dress and placed them on the gash in his abdomen to apply pressure.

Blood quickly tainted your fingers but you knew you would have to continue applying pressure for as long as it would take. Taehyung gasped at the immediate pain and grabbed your wrist; tightly clenching it as if to subside the pain just a little.

"I'm sorry," you murmured, "I know it hurts. Don't worry, it's going to be OK."

You weren't so sure about that. There didn't seem to be anyone around, and if sand entered the wound then it could easily get infected. Why was this happening?! More tears streamed down your face as you mentally cursed Kim Taehyung while he watched you silently. His grip didn't loosen as his soft but haunting gaze focused on you. After a few heartbeats, his lips disobediently parted so he could speak once more.